Talk:Duchy of Westridge
Agricultural requirements Just some quick back of the envelope calculations. For the figure of 33,000, assuming ~60% of their daily diet is grain and for simplicity's sake going with nothing but wheat, the Duchy'll need ~650 short tons of wheat yearly, and that's without surplus. That's ~2050 acres worth of production, though that assumes each acre is sown only once and yields aren't extraordinary. Probably closer to 1500 with double planting and rotation, but close to a square mile is quite reasonable. Grains Going into more detail on crops and assuming a fairly wheat heavy diet (where it's 50% of the grain consumed, which'd fit with the more late medieval/early modern theme of Stormwind as a whole while still being conservative. Barley as 30%, rye and oats in equal portion) Yearly, total grain croplands will need to be ~2870 acres, or around 4.5 square miles. (1033 acres of wheat, 970 acres of barley, 555 acres of oats, 311 acres of rye, assuming 10% calorie loss in preparation, storage, etcetera. This does not allow for seed corn, the presence of maize, or any surplus.) To harvest this, assuming 2 mandays an acre (which would not account for more advanced reapers, which I'd strongly argue in favour for) over a normal 2-week harvest, will require ~410 people doing nothing else. Not too bad. Factoring in 1/5th as seed grain (allowing for no surplus beyond the necessary diet and seed grain, e.g. for trade), 3444 acres instead, with an adjusted harvest of ~500 people. 1/5th is a fairly average figure, representing enough grain for the next planting with a safe margin of error due to weather, infertile seeds, or unlucky plantings. Assuming two plantings yearly, ~25 plow teams will be needed. Assuming they're all draft horses, that's about 200, who can also serve as part of the horse-cart labour force, which is here derived from a late 1300s figure and would require 63 cart horses. Meat and dairy: We'll assume 15% of the total diet. Not rich, but also fairly prosperous. Of that, 35% Fish/20% Pork/20% Beef/20% Mutton/5% Other. With the cows, we'll assume half and half between meat and dairy. Looking at around 4 or 5 average-sized cows and oxen daily (average for 'then', rather than now), so probably a herd of three thousand or so to be even close to sustainable (twice yearly requirements) On fish, it's a little trickier. With Stormwind's weather and conditions I'm inclined to actually take a page from Italy, Southern France, and Spain (though they aren't quite the subtropics) rather than Northern Europe. In actual yields, however, I have little clue so I'm going to take the caloric yield of cod. Based on location, we'll treat it as 35% of the meat diet. (122.5 (proportion of calories) x 33000, 4,042,500 x 365, 1,475,512,500 / 1050 (caloric content of 1kg atlantic cod) = 1,405,250 kilograms, or ~1550 short tons of cod) So, somewhere in the region of ~1550 tons of fish of various kinds, treating cod as a sort of fairly good benchmark. Obviously it won't all be cod, but this is going to require quite a bit of fishing. I honestly have no idea how far you'd have to go to get that, but assuming a generous average ship capacity of 100 ton, fifteen boats working full time will suffice, so the fleet is likely to be in the twenties or low thirties assuming great yields, and higher if it's more average. Pork yields, (70 x 33000, 2310000 x 365, 843150000 / 4000 (rough value for the pig's meat as a whole, including fats and leaner parts. Could be higher with stewed bones and blood use), 210788 KG of pig, necessitating a herd of ~4220 pigs. (~50kg per pig usable meat/organs) Yearly, those'll have to be replaced, but around 500 sows will do so (~10 average piglets per sow), but obviously a larger herd would be preferable and you'll need to carry the same number of piglets. Assuming half are largely free roaming and half are intensive farmed, around 2200 acres of good woodland and pasture are in order, and ~200 acres of intensive farming in paddocks, so that's another 3 square miles and three quarters. This is all very rough here, and those intensive acres are going to need (very, very, very rough ~200 kilograms of beans and grain a pig, so ~120 short tons, which is the production of around 1400 acres or another 2 square miles. Good news is, that includes seed grain.) Sheep, 70 x 33000, 2310000 x 365, 843150000 / 4, 210787500 x 3 (meat, x 1 milk products), 632362500 / 2200 = 287,440KG or 317 short tons. If each sheep (these are big for a low-end estimate) provides 20 kilograms of meat, ~14,400 sheep. Milk-wise, 52,000 litres (~4000 calories a litre, not factoring in cheese production), which will require ~3500 sheep. This herd would be insufficient for sustainability, obviously, and ideally you'd want 3 to 4 times as many. For grazing land, they'll require 3500 acres (another 5 and a half square miles) if it's good, high quality pasture. But the good news is they'll also provide ~125,300 pounds of wool. That's a lot of clothes, tapestries, etcetera - provided they're a breed worth a damn for wool, at least. The remaining 5% of meat would be from hunted game and 'other' sources (E.g. chickens, ducks). Butter is actually 22 short tons and cheese is actually ~88 short tons, but again, I wouldn't necessarily trust this. Steps used: 70 / 2, 35 / 100, .35 x 60, 21 x 33000, 693000 x 365, 252945000 / 3200 (nominal value for caloric content of 1 kilo of 'cheese') = 35131KG, or 87.1 short tons. For butter, assume the same until the last two steps and then 147551250 / 7200 (nominal value for butter) = 20493.22 kilograms, or ~22 short tons. I don't know what the hell with my numbers from last night. For this, you'll need ~680 milking cows, and to keep that herd properly serviced, 53 bulls. You aren't going to want to eat these guys so we'll add it to the meat herd's minimum number of ~1500 for ~2250 as the absolute unsustainable minimum. For that herd alone, 31, 262 acres of pasture are in order. Double it to allow for a large, healthy herd you aren't eating to death every year, and you'll need ~98 square miles of pasturage. I sure hope you guys import your beef/cheese or have grazing arrangements with neighbours.Arathorstories (talk) 11:15, February 13, 2013 (UTC) Vegetables We'll treat beans as a fairly big component of this chunk of the diet (which will make up 20% of the total), at 25%. This will include peas, lentils, and the various varieties thereof. Beans are an inexpensive source of protein and energy, and the ideal food for feeding the swineherd, which means they'll already be in cultivation. (700 / 4, 175 x 33000, 5775000 x 365, 2107875000 \ 3800 (1 KG lentils) = 553705KG / 612 short tons. I'll handle acre yield later since I don't have my copy of Seignoral Medieval Agriculture handry right now.